Why do you think the imported ones are harder to handle? Do you reckon it's a breed characteristic or the way they're trained? A hot, high performance WB isn't particularly easy to handle, either.

Don't worry about digressing, providing it doesn't turn in to an argument ;D

Give me a hot blooded fit, feisty WB any day over a mistreated Andy Stallion. I rode it once, imported, bossman, baggage of a horse. He was trained, oh boy was he trained, but some of the methods aren't particularly savoury, and its my honest belief his wasn't either. Alls I can says is I'm glad they neutered him o.0

I could remember that the only "good" dressage saddle was a Stubben and it was as hard as nails. The most uncomfortable saddle I ever sat on. I never made a dressage saddle purchase until many years later...and it was NOT a Stubben. Now we have flex this and flex that which makes it way more comfortable to sit in. 30-40 years ago very few riders even were able to get any sort of dressage saddle and if you were not doing FEI, you made do with whatever you had.

The bridle itself has changed. At one time there was the Cavesson or dropped nose band and that was it. Figure eight wasn't legal. Also the bits were very restrictive and double jointed ones were not even legal. It was straight bar or single jointed...and if the horse didn't work well in these, you made do.

I could remember that the only "good" dressage saddle was a Stubben and it was as hard as nails. The most uncomfortable saddle I ever sat on. I never made a dressage saddle purchase until many years later...and it was NOT a Stubben. Now we have flex this and flex that which makes it way more comfortable to sit in. 30-40 years ago very few riders even were able to get any sort of dressage saddle and if you were not doing FEI, you made do with whatever you had.

The bridle itself has changed. At one time there was the Cavesson or dropped nose band and that was it. Figure eight wasn't legal. Also the bits were very restrictive and double jointed ones were not even legal. It was straight bar or single jointed...and if the horse didn't work well in these, you made do.

An owner at my yard recently purchased a dressage saddle from a rider who used it 30yrs ago- it has no knee rolls or anything, so you have to use your leg properly otherwise it slips all over- very interesting!

We still have to compete in snaffles for the lower levels... is that the same for you guys?

An owner at my yard recently purchased a dressage saddle from a rider who used it 30yrs ago- it has no knee rolls or anything, so you have to use your leg properly otherwise it slips all over- very interesting!

We still have to compete in snaffles for the lower levels... is that the same for you guys?

Snaffles now come in different metals and with so many different mouthpieces that it is hard to keep them straight.

So yes a snaffle is still a snaffle but your only choice was a single jointed or straight bar...that was it. The main difference years ago were the type of bit rings allowed...that was it.

What about training methods, as well? Were some better, some horrific, some that made instead of asked the horse? You hear horror stories about the jumpers, pins in bell boots so if they hit a pole... yeah, you get the drift- what about dressage? Any sordid past?

French link snaffle were around in the 60's, I have a dressage saddle that is around 40years old - the knee rolls are under the flap and the whole saddle looks lovely and streamlined - leather is of outstanding quality too. Shame my horse is too broad to wear it!

No sordid past - peole took longer to get their horses ready to compete - ensuring the basics were well established before progressing to the next level - while the visual extravagence wasn't there as such the horses appeared less stressed - not so much teeth baring and tail swishing

It's almost impossible to get a nice quality "dressage" bridle nowadays that DOESN'T have a flash and crank. Even the mid-range ones do. In my area you have to spend MORE and get a "show" bridle if you want a plain cavesson noseband.

Whatever happened to good dressage where we didn't need or want these things on our bridles?

Now I'm not saying that EVERY dressage rider uses this rubbish but seriously, it ain't good dressage if you HAVE to have all that equipment on your horse's head to get some semblance of a decently controlled dressage test. I understand (some of) it for jumping because the horses can get SO excited all the training goes down the drain but dressage? Really? They should be trained so that the smallest and most subtle of aids is enough to control them.

Blu eyed pony - so totally agree with you - having just spent the day travelling around the areas saddlery stores trying to find a cavesson noseband for my horse. I'm going to have to have one made! Grrr

Also agree that to many horses these days have their mouths jammed shut - the lady I trained with - an International Dressage judge would not let us use anything but a snaffle and cavesson. Anything else showed off the fact your horse had a mouth problem.

Register Now

In order to be able to post messages on the The Horse Forum forums, you must first register.

Already have a Horse Forum account?
Members are allowed only one account per person at the Horse Forum, so if you've made an account here in the past you'll need to continue using that account. Please do not create a new account or you may lose access to the Horse Forum. If you need help recovering your existing account, please Contact Us. We'll be glad to help!

New to the Horse Forum?Please choose a username you will be satisfied with using for the duration of your membership at the Horse Forum. We do not change members' usernames upon request because that would make it difficult for everyone to keep track of who is who on the forum. For that reason, please do not incorporate your horse's name into your username so that you are not stuck with a username related to a horse you may no longer have some day, or use any other username you may no longer identify with or care for in the future.

User Name:

Password

Please enter a password for your user account. Note that passwords are case-sensitive.

Password:

Confirm Password:

Email Address

Please enter a valid email address for yourself.

Email Address:

Log-in

User Name

Remember Me?

Password

Human Verification

In order to verify that you are a human and not a spam bot, please enter the answer into the following box below based on the instructions contained in the graphic.

Old Thread Warning

This thread is more than 90 days old. When a thread is this old, it is often better to start a new thread rather than post to it. However, If you feel you have something of value to add to this particular thread, you can do so by checking the box below before submitting your post.I am aware that this is an old thread and I want to revive it rather than starting a new thread.